Abstract:
This case study examines teacher attitudes about the changes brought about by the new Kansas State Social Studies standards and their implementation into classrooms. Ten teachers from the 5th grade to the 12 th grade were interviewed concerning their reactions to the standards, what they thought and how they would use an electronic resource [Web site] to access the standards and original archival material that is being digitized by the Kansas State Archives. The teachers came from several different geographic areas of the state, as well as different district sizes. Different levels of experience as well as education and gender were represented in the study group. The teachers were queried on the communication about the standards between various levels of their school bureaucracy, as well as information flowing from the State Department of Education. From this ethnographic case study several factors became apparent that were keys to classroom practice and the process of change. These factors were “access to resources”, “accountability and pressure
”, “communication”, “concepts versus content”, “curriculum realignment”,
“learning styles”, “local control”, “standards and assessments”, and “time.” This study discovered that the participants' main concern for implementing the new standards was the time-press put upon their jobs. The other factors were contributions to pressure upon the teachers to fulfill their responsibilities to their students and their own feelings toward their professions. Recommendations for reducing this pressure include more efficient introduction of information to teachers so their time may be used effectively, better communication of expectations of implementing the standards and preparing students for the assessments, and better models and examples for teachers to implement the standards into their teaching lessons.